Kampala — Peace is a very desirable but, unfortunately also a commodity most elusive.

This became increasingly clear on Thursday when the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels pulled the plug on the Juba peace talks. The LRA has said it will not resume the talks unless government calls for a ceasefire first and the International Criminal Court (ICC) agrees to withdraw criminal charges against five of its top commanders.

The rebels are also demanding another mediator and for the talks to be relocated to another country other than the Southern Sudanese capital of Juba.

The rebels' action has not only dashed the hopes of many in northern Uganda, who were hoping to return home from IDP camps and resettle in their villages, but is also likely to ferment the growing unease that comes from the belief that the rebels are only using the talks to buy more time as they regroup.

And yet this is not the picture that Kony presented to the world when he held talks with a team of leaders from Acholi, Lango, Bunyoro and West Nile in a makeshift conference facility on the fringes of his hideout in Garamba. For the first time, the LRA chief allowed his human side to surface as he laughed, hugged and shook hands with his guests. His presence alone was interpreted as an assurance of his commitment and a huge step forward for the peace process.

The only person who seemed immune to the goings-on in Garamba is the Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere. "I don't think we should make it (Garamba) the Jerusalem of Uganda and people start paying homage to the Promised Land to visit it," he remarked sarcastically.

Lucky for Kabwegyere, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Dr Kizza Besigye does not seem very keen to join the pilgrimage to Garamba, despite being repeatedly accused of having links with the LRA. Instead, the FDC leader is set to travel separately to Ghana and the UK to attend some conferences after he successfully won a court application to have his passport returned. He is however required to hand back the passport upon his return, assuming he that returns!

Sadly, about 27 travelers will not be returning safely to their homes after they died in a nasty accident on Sunday night. Three others died of petrol fumes in the accident, which took place at Kitega hill on the Kampala-Jinja road, about 3km from Lugazi town.

But that was not the only tragedy of the week. In Jinja, it was reported that six pupils of Army Boarding Primary School in Gadhafi military barracks died after their dormitory caught fire on Monday night. A burning charcoal stove that was left unattended reportedly caused the fire, which broke out at 11.00pm. The army has promised to set up an inquiry and to severely punish the culprits.

FDC may want to learn a lesson or two about discipline, especially when it comes to Aruu County MP Odonga Otto. Otto, who thrives on controversy jlike a fat kid loves cake, shocked his FDC colleagues when he resigned from all his positions in the party including that of the National Youth Coordinator.

Although he has promised to continue serving the party in other capacity, politically speaking, he is in fact putting the party on notice.

Kitante Primary School is determined to put up a fight for its land although, legally, the land belongs to government. This week, the school started fencing off its 35-acre piece of land, which was last month allocated to two separate investors for development. The investors are set to occupy 10 acres of the land, should government insist on giving it away.

Another government department that is under siege is the Department of Immigration in the ministry of Internal Affairs. This week, Police raided the department and arrested three officials as part of a deeper investigation in the issuance of fake passports to non-citizens, including a prominent Rwandan dissident.